A printer includes a head, an electrode, a moving unit, a voltage application circuit, and a controller. The head has an ejection surface having a nozzle. The head is configured to eject liquid from the nozzle. The moving unit is configured to move at least one of the electrode or the head. The voltage application circuit is configured to apply a certain voltage between the head and the electrode. The controller is configured to: drive the moving unit such that the ejection surface faces the electrode; drive the voltage application circuit to apply the certain voltage between the head and the electrode; compare a level of an output signal input to the controller from the electrode with a particular threshold; and based on the comparison result, determine that liquid is present between the ejection surface and the electrode.

The present invention includes a head holder configured to collectively holding a plurality of discharge heads and a collective head mover configured to move the head holder between a printing space above the printing medium being conveyed in the conveying direction and a retraction space separated from the printing space. Therefore, is provided a printing technique capable of printing a high-quality image at low cost by discharging inks from a plurality of discharge heads arranged adjacent to each other in a direction parallel to a conveying direction of a printing medium while reciprocally moving the respective discharge heads between a printing space and a retraction space.

A method of cleaning a dispenser including a faceplate, comprises emitting light over the surface of the faceplate across the width of the faceplate, measuring an intensity of the light at a plurality of points on the surface of the faceplate after the light has passed over the width, determining, based on the measured light intensity, whether an amount of accumulated formable material on the faceplate is greater than a predetermined value, and in a case that the amount of accumulated formable material is greater than a predetermined value, imparting a suction force on the surface of the faceplate using the vacuum at a distance from the faceplate to remove at least a portion of the accumulated formable material from the surface of the faceplate.

A liquid discharge apparatus is provided, which comprises a head, a maintenance mechanism which has a cap and which is movable to a maintenance position and a waiting position, a first support mechanism which supports the maintenance mechanism disposed at the maintenance position, and a second support mechanism which supports the maintenance mechanism disposed at the waiting position. One of the first and second support mechanisms is relatively movable to a first position and a second position with respect to the other. When the one of them is disposed at the first position, both of them is configured to support the maintenance mechanism simultaneously. When the one of them is disposed at the second position, the other of them is separated away from the maintenance mechanism.

A print module comprising a printhead cartridge releasably engaged with a supply module, wherein the supply module comprises one or more wing levers for slidably raising and lowering a respective ink coupling of the supply module relative to the printhead cartridge.

A liquid ejecting system includes: a transport portion that transports a medium in a transport direction in a state in which the medium is supported on a medium supporting surface; a liquid ejecting portion that performs printing by moving in a scanning direction and ejecting a liquid from a nozzle with respect to the medium supported on the medium supporting surface; a designation portion for an operator to designate a designation range within a scanning area, the scanning area being configured to face the liquid ejecting portion that moves in the scanning direction and to include the medium and the medium supporting surface; and a control portion that sets a flushing area based on the designated designation range and performs a flushing operation of ejecting the liquid from the nozzle to the flushing area as a maintenance operation of the liquid ejecting portion.

There is provided a liquid ejecting apparatus including: a print head having an ejection opening surface on which an ejection opening array for ejecting a liquid is provided in a first direction; a cap unit for protecting the ejection opening array; a moving unit configured to relatively move the print head and the cap unit; a first positioning portion for locating the print head and the cap unit in a first relative position where the print head and the cap unit come into contact with each other; and a second positioning portion for locating the print head and the cap unit in a second relative position where the print head and the cap unit come into contact with each other, the second relative position being different from the first relative position.

A print module comprising a printhead cartridge releasably engaged with a supply module, wherein the supply module comprises one or more wing levers for slidably raising and lowering a respective ink coupling of the supply module relative to the printhead cartridge.

Devices include one or more inkjet printheads, a reusable jetting sheet that is adjacent to nozzles of the printheads, support structures (e.g., drive rollers) contacting the sheet, and a cleaning station contacting the sheet. The reusable jetting sheet includes an opening, that is at least as large as the sets of nozzles, and a jetting area spaced from the opening. The support structures are adapted to move the reusable jetting sheet relative to the sets of nozzles. The inkjet printheads are adapted to eject ink from at least some of the nozzles, through the opening, to print media when the opening is positioned adjacent to the sets of nozzles, to print on print media. The inkjet printhead is further adapted to eject ink from at least some of the nozzles to the jetting area when the jetting area is positioned adjacent to the sets of nozzles to perform maintenance jetting.

Certain examples described herein relate to calibrating a cleaning element for a printhead. A print medium sensor is aligned with a nozzle plane of the printhead to detect displacement, during a print job, of a print medium out of the nozzle plane. Relative movement between the cleaning element and the printhead is enacted. During this movement, activation of the print medium sensor is detected. A reference position for the cleaning element is stored based on the detected activation.